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Intrinsic Schools

BCG’s Center for Illinois' Future helped Intrisic Schools develop a sustainable strategic plan and educational model for a charter school.

Intrinsic Schools

Intrinsic Schools sought to deliver better education for public school students through an economically sustainable charter model. Leaders at Intrinsic Schools tapped BCG to help formulate the business model needed to support the launch of the innovative Chicago charter school.

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BCG Solution

BCG made a long-term commitment to partner with Intrinsic Schools and help develop sustainable operations. While crafting the business model, the team aimed to drive the strategic vision of the organization. Intrinsic Schools' unique educational model enables students to rotate through independent work, instruction, and collaboration and project-based learning. In this way, technology is used to empower team teaching and achieve greater personalization for the students.

Impact

Intrinsic Schools successfully launched its first Chicago campus, which features several breakthrough educational innovations. Within four years of launch, Intrinsic has achieved the highest education performance rating in the entire Chicago Public Schools system. A 2015 article by EdSurge praised Intrinsic Schools for “breaking the laws of school innovation.”

In the early days, I knew a lot about the academics of what we wanted to create, but we had to build a pretty complex financial model. I could answer questions about the inputs and could provide a lot of feedback about what I wanted to happen, but somebody [at BCG] structured and built it for me, which was a huge relief.

Melissa Zaikos
CEO & Founder, Intrinsic Schools
Chicago

About Intrinsic Schools

Intrinsic Schools is a Chicago public charter school for 7th-12th grade that blends technology with exceptional teaching to provide every student a path to college and career. BCG first partnered with Intrinsic Schools in 2012 to support its fall 2013 launch, develop the initial business plan, and advance a wide range of initiatives. Intrinsic is already a top-rated school in Chicago.